Development I welcome residential, commercial, educational and industrial developments
to our community as long as they fit our needs, create jobs and reduce
sprawl.

I
would encourage residential development that brings more density
where our service are established, creates more walkable neighborhoods
and doesn’t pave forests or farms.

Neighborhood
commercial developments need to happen close to where people live
so the majority of people that live in a neighborhood
can walk to shop. Major shopping needs to be concentrated downtown.
I don’t
support placing shopping on farmland unless its agriculture focussed,
for example Golden Ears Cheesecrafters.

I
would love to see more schools being established in Maple Ridge and
we should actively pursue the many different types of schools
and education
available to students.

We
have a lot of industrial land available right now in Hammond, Albion
and north of Websters Corners. I am looking forward to
the debate around
the 128th and 232nd lands that are undesignated at the moment.
We could do something quite creative if we put our minds to
it.

In
the past our Economic Advisory Commission has been focused on poaching
farmland for what I would consider dodgy reasons.
The
days of build
it and they will come have passed and I think a more targeted
approach has a better chance of succeeding. Defining what
we want then pursuing
those businesses. Now the EAC seems to be headed in this
direction and I would encourage them to continue to do so. The Tourism
and Agriculture sectors haven’t gotten the attention they deserve I would love
to brand Maple Ridge as the place to go for fresh food and adventure.
The Golden Ears Way/128th/Abernethy corridor should be expanded on
and further Agriculture/Adventure facilities should be encouraged from
Laity’s pumpkin patch to Wildplay and beyond. In my view we should
look at tax incentives similar to the downtown. This type of approach
is very attractive to residents, tourists and large scale employers.
The best part is we use what we have to create a more vibrant future
without paving what we all love.

I
will also encourage the arts and cultural sectors as they help create
a community that is attractive to residents,
tourists and investment.
Industries want to establish in communities that have an
ambience that gives their employees a safe and beautiful
place to live.
By and large
we have that type of community; we just need to continue
enriching our lifestyle. Heritage needs to be invested
in for these same
reasons and to that end we need to build a museum and archives.
Investing
in arts and heritage pays huge dividends and can attract
investments in
educational facilities.

We
live in a beautiful garden that we all love, paving it to create
a short term future goes against all reason.
We
can
have it all
but we have to be careful and plan a future that celebrates
our beauty
instead of destroying it. Development must serve the
community.

Transparency After all the to and fro over the edited tape of a council
meeting has shown the need for increased transparency
over how council
does its work. Social media has changed things and
its time to reflect
that change in how council goes forward. Secrecy has
cast a shadow where
there shouldn’t be one. The public not only deserves better it
is demanding better and council still hasn’t responded in a sufficient
manner. I will support increased access to information and meetings
while allowing more latitude for social media platforms such as websites,
Facebook and Twitter for council members and committees. Social media
has become the new kitchen table where we discuss issues both local
and international. Council needs a place at that table.

Safe
Communities Maple Ridge is by and large a safe community but there
are issues that need to be improved. Homelessness
is one of them
our police
chief said
it well “we need health care not handcuffs”. The police
need help and it isn’t more police. Our fellow citizens become
homeless for reason unique to each one. We know that the majority (80%)
come from within Maple Ridge, they aren’t some foreign import,
they are us. We can judge and condemn them from the sidelines with
many calling for harsh “solutions” that will further victimise
them or we can try to work with them to create a path back into society.
Many of these citizens are sick; some with mental illness and others
struggle with addictions. We need help from senior governments to create
housing and services in order to end homelessness. Addictions are a
health care issue and you can’t heal anyone with a stick. Mental
illness can be treated in Maple Ridge, shipping the “problem” to
Riverview isn’t a solution for most. The solution in my mind
for the homeless/mentally ill/drug addicted people in our society starts
with the first word “home” then a outreach worker that
knows their name, then treatment, education and finally a job and reintegration
into society. Senior government has to come to the table with a commitment
to treatment on demand; transition housing and a continuum of care
till these folks become contributing members of society. It is a strategy
that is cheaper in the long run and creates a community that is truly
safe. We need a plan and then we need to work the plan. It isn’t
complicated but it needs all levels of government contributing to make
it happen. When a crime is committed then we need consequences that
correct the criminal behaviour and address its underlying causes.

Taxes Death and taxes are the only certainties in life
but it’s good
to avoid both.

To
be fair taxes need to be tied to services and programs that have
broad support. Roads, fresh
water, sewage,
recycling, fire, police,
parks and recreation all come to mind but increasingly
citizens are calling for action around social
issues like homelessness,
mental
illness and addiction. I believe we can have
an effective homelessness/Addiction
reduction strategy and do it without raising
taxes if we repurpose a portion of our protective services
money
and
give the police
what they have asked for, less handcuffs and
more healthcare.

To
keep taxes under control a robust business planning process is essential.
I’m comfortable with the one we presently employ. We have used
it for many years and in my view give council, staff and the public
enough information to understand the issues and make decisions. I will
call on staff to provide the new council with an in-depth review of
all financial information. For me it is critical that all info is available
to the public in a transparent, easy to access format. All information
and reports used to assess tax levels should be easily accessible online.

Our
community is a little over half way through its growth phase. What
that means to me is
much of our
public infrastructure
and
private development
is yet to be built. We can’t put off building critical infrastructure
forever. To pay for it we will need to be creative and open for partnerships
with the private sector and senior governments. To take advantage of
these types of opportunities I would continue building our Infrastructure
Replacement Fund so we can take advantage of grants when they’re
available without borrowing.

We
need to get more from the greenfield development process to cover
off the long term costs
we take on when we acquire
the
infrastructure developers hand over when
they move on. To that end I would call
for a review our development fees. Presently
we can claim land, funds
and
fees for community amenities. I would like
to see this funding source expanded. We
should continue
offering
incentives for
commercial/residential development downtown.

The
only sure way to keep taxes down in the future is to grow into a
more efficient
community.
We
need better
control
over
growth.
To do so we need to get the sprawl out
of our OCP, Zoning by-law and
a variety of other planning documents.
Council needs to become sprawl busters
and if that
means opening
the OCP
for a public
review so
be
it. We should offer new incentives, similar
to the ones offered downtown, for developments
in
emerging
neighborhoods
that
feature shopping,
service or tourism. Increased shopping
would be welcomed in many of our emerging
and existing neighbourhoods.

Donations I will gladly accept donations for my
campaign from any individual who likes
my platform
and wants to
help me
get elected.

I
have decided to not accept money from developers, corporate sources
or unions.
I am proud to
say that I was a union
member my entire
working life but since the developer
oriented critics point to union involvement
as a conflict I will forgo union
support.
Although I have never seen a union
propose a development
scheme.

Any
donation comes with the caveat that I may have to leave the room
if in my
mind it creates
a conflict.
(I
had to
do so in
the last
term I was elected). I will release
the names
of anyone that donates more
than $50 to my campaign before
E-day.

Garbage
Reality A few folks are calling for municipal
garbage collection, I disagree.
At the present
time we have 4 or 5
commercial garbage
haulers
who compete for your business.
There are also non-profits that
offer
this service
and they employ intellectually
impaired people. There is no
lack of service
if you need it.
Many of us
manage our
own waste
stream
and
reap the reward of decreased
costs and a lighter environmental footstep.
For
me personally
it
would be the largest
tax increase I have ever
experienced which is ironic since
most of the people calling for
municipal garbage collection
also want
to lower taxes.
You can’t have it
both ways. At some point, if the issue continues to create conflict,
we may need to ask our citizens what they think through referendum.

The
threat of an incinerator costing $500,000,000 is for me
a critical
issue for the next
council. The need
for
one hasn’t been proven
especially when the organics are removed in 2015 and the remaining
material is easier to separate.

The
new producer responsibility program MMPR has yet been proven
to be moving
us in the
right direction
and the question
of
whether or
not Maple Ridge should opt
out will have to be addressed
within
the next
year.
My experience
in this field
will
be very useful
over the
next mandate.

Shopping It’s no secret
that we are underserved for commercial services. Over the years councils
have allowed commercial sprawl on Lougheed
Highway instead of concentrating
it downtown. We have slowly grown commercial development and by offering
incentives we are starting to
get somewhere downtown.
The last thing any existing business needs is more sprawl commercial
like what has been proposed for the Albion
Flats. At best it would
look and work like a strip mall made from tilt-ups. Albion needs commercial
services but it needs to be placed near where
people live.

Here
is an idea; help the school board and province
build a
new larger elementary
school
on 104th
then allow commercial
development
to occur
on the vacated school
property on 240th close to where
people live.
Everybody
wins.

During
part of the time I was elected to council I was a director with
the Lower Mainland Local
Government Association as a way to familiarize myself with our
neighbors and our common
issues. I found that many of the issues crossed the invisible political
boundaries we
have
arbitrarily
set.
Getting
to
know many
of my peers in local
government has given me insight
into
how we can work together in ways that
benefit the
entire region. Those connections remain
and I look
forward to renewing
them.

I
was also a director for 3 years with the
Municipal
Insurance
Association an organization
that gives
liability insurance
coverage to 170 communities
in BC
(including us). Self
insurance has given
our communities
low cost insurance,
risk
assessment
and claim management
at a time
when
premiums were escalating
wildly. The best lessons
I learned through this
involved practical
risk management
tools that
minimize liability.
With almost
$100million in
reserves the MIA
has a goal of eventually
being able to self
finance the premiums
of its
member
communities.

The
Future Maple Ridge has a bright
future as long as we
can get a handle
on our
growth
issues. We have
lots
of room
to grow
as long
as we do
it in
the right places
with the right mix of
residential density, commercial, service
and industry. Our
downtown is coming
together but still needs
time to
coalesce without
the threat of another
mall on the outskirts. Simple
economics
tells
you we will
get the industry we need
to fill our underutilized
industrial
lands, the
price difference
for serviced acre is
starting to get noticed. Shopping
will come
with increased
population,
more simple
economics. It’s hard to be patient sometimes but
it will come. We don’t live in an area that has 200,000 or 300,000 people
for commerce to draw from, we are a little isolated which is a good but it does
create some challenges.

This
a beautiful place to live because of our
history, rural/urban
character
and quality
of life. Let’s keep it that way.

My
experience and background makes me the right
choice to help lead
Maple Ridge
into
the future.